


Pitter-Patter

by chibixkadaj



Category: NCT (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hybrids, Cat/Human Hybrids, Kiss of the Rabbit God inspired, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21913447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibixkadaj/pseuds/chibixkadaj
Summary: Taeyong learns love from the guidance of a red-clad stranger.
Relationships: Lee Taemin/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 9
Kudos: 44
Collections: kbas secret santa 2019





	Pitter-Patter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheTransientTako](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTransientTako/gifts).



At the bank of the river is where he first sees him; tall and beautiful, body lean with a clean silhouette that is unmarred by pointed ears or a long tail.

Taeyong is scrubbing blood from his hands, washing at a wound his stupidly clumsy tendencies brought upon himself. The flecks where it’s dried are the hardest to remove but the small gaps where his skin is still split keeps spilling droplets and _that_ is even more frustrating. The others will taunt him for his slip up, but the longer he’s away (the less cleaning he does) the more he may be reprimanded at the end of the day. Taeyong scrubs harder.

He catches sight of the other man when he breaks in exasperation and shoots his gaze towards the sky-- getting caught part way through thanks to long dark hair, sunkissed skin, and a blindingly bright smile. The mystery man laughs and a brown ear twitches to attention in hopes of catching more of the sound. After a quick rest the man is gone and Taeyong sits stupidly, wondering why his chest suddenly feels so tight and airy, like a balloon ready to burst. He doesn’t realize how late it’s become.  
x  
At the bank of the river he catches himself waiting, over and over and over again for tall and beautiful, body lean with a clean silhouette that is unmarred by pointed ears or a long tail. 

Every afternoon he does see him-- hiking his way through an afternoon slump, taking a break across the gap where he’ll sometimes splash water onto his face or wash his hands. Sometimes he has a friend with him, someone taller who is just as striking. But Taeyong always stays fixated on the first one. 

Once he gets spotted, and with a soft meow darts into the safety of the bushes around him. Why he doesn’t want to be seen is a mystery even to him. But like this, dressed in robes that give away his low status at the shrine, with furry ears and a long, thin tail that dictate his position in society, he knows he’s not worth being seen. 

More than that, why he even would _want_ to be seen escapes him. He just wants to look (for some reason), nothing else. 

Until the day comes where that somehow, suddenly...changes?  


x

  
At the bank of the river he grows uncertain. Every sunrise he builds up his confidence through morning prayer and hurries about his chores but by the time he washes up in the water it crumbles apart. Those ears, the peak of that tail… it isn’t right. The world around him says it’s not right. He doesn’t feel right.

He’s heard the horror stories of beings like him crossing the wrong lines into human terrority. He’s had nightmares of the torment, the torture, the subjugation of pethood. Some of his fellows are survivors, he shouldn’t violate their torment just because of an ~~infatuation~~ interest.

He wouldn’t want to bother the human anyway. 

The thoughts don’t leave, though. They trail him like shadows behind his every action, from dusk until dawn, between meals and around his work. 

He can’t help but think about the things he wants as he lights incense and sets up charms. Maybe it’s wrong, in a place where so many more important peoples’ wishes are meant to be heard, for Taeyong to be fixating on his own. 

_Ah, not here,_ he settles on. He should leave the shrine before he dotes any longer.

Taeyong turns full force into the body of another man, staggers back out of shock and takes a second to regain himself. Dark eyes grow wide at the sight-- soft, cherub like cheeks contrasting keen eyes and a sharp smile, blonde hair swept up from his forehead. He says, “Can you help me? I’m lost,” but he steps up to Taeyong with such certainty that the cat finds that a bit hard to believe. Still, he nods and replies, “What do you need?”

The man smiles and adjusts his red lens sunglasses up his nose. Red seems to be his favorite, since it makes up the majority of his jacket and all the embellishments on his shirt and pants. “I’m trying to hike to the peak but I can’t seem to find the way. Would you guide me?”

Taeyong glances back around his shoulders. He could have sworn there was more going on around him, from the aggressive rustling of the wind to the hurried feet of his fellow shrinehands, So much more action than seems to exist now; as if this stranger’s arrival brought with him the stopping of time. Still, who would he be if he didn’t help him? 

“Of course, let’s go this way.”

They climb in relative silence. Taeyong has tried to think of different topics to share but each was met with one word answers or soft hums. It makes Taeyong’s ears flatten a bit, mind racing with thoughts of _”What am I doing wrong?”_ He glances back and jumps to attention, catching eyes that seem like they haven’t left Taeyong once during their trek. He tries to smile, ignoring how upright his ears are or how the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. “Th-the view is beautiful up here, isn’t it?”

“It is,” The other replies, but his gaze stays fixed. 

Taeyong fidgets before spinning back around on his heels and pressing onwards. Forward and forward still, yet...he still makes the pause, the glance across the river as they walk parallel to the bank. Is he here? Taeyong suppresses his sigh. He can’t help but let his looking linger, step by step until the gap in the opposite brush is no longer visible. 

The other clears his throat. “Looking for someone?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I mean… Not really. Not someone I know.” 

A blond brow raises.

“Sorry, that must sound weird? It’s just a person who usually comes hiking around this time and--” Oh. _They_ were hiking so...if they got to the top at the same time… Taeyong brings his hand to his cheek, first and middle fingers bouncing to try and tap away some of the heat he felt building in them. 

Taeyong grows more timid while the other chuckles, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, when Taeyong turns to set them back on the last stretch of the mountain he comes closer, nearly chest to back with the shrine kit. It makes Taeyong’s breath hitch. And they stay that close until they emerge through low branches, stepping out onto the dirt and gravel covered ground overlooking the mountain range. Taeyong raises his hand to shield his eyes from the mid afternoon sun, squinting until the city skyline came _just_ into view. 

“What’s that?” The stranger startles Taeyong’s sightseeing with his ask. 

“Huh?”

“Your hand.” It’s pulled from Taeyong’s eyes and into the other’s palms, brows furrowed as he looks at the wound. “You should take care of this.”

“I-... I mean it’s okay. I cleaned it.”

“You work in nature, something could happen to it,” their eyes meet, gloved fingers still stroking over the cut. Taeyong grows red. 

“I will be careful,” he manages finally through suddenly dry lips. It’s still a few more seconds before he takes his hand away.

“You know what they say about wounds right? They’re like doors.” He doesn’t finish the statement and Taeyong doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He tilts his head and parts his lips to ask but he knows a different adage, the one about cats and curiosity. Better to not ask. 

A rustling behind the red clad stranger catches Taeyong’s attention-- dark hair, a bright smile, keen eyes, all so familiar that it makes the shrine hand jump. Fortunately, the other startles too (so Taeyong doesn’t feel as weird about it). 

“Oh, sorry.” The man’s voice is like music; but Taeyong had assumed that by the melody of his laughter. “There’s no usually anyone at the peak around this time. I thought I’d be alone.”

“I- I-”

“No problem,” Taeyong’s companion cut in with a smile. “Our apologies if we intruded on your personal time. I asked for assistance getting up here. I’m new to the area.”

“Oh really?” A smile. “This is your first stop? I think you’ve come to the right place. I only just moved here a bit ago myself but I love it here. Feels like a bit of piece in the middle of a big city.” 

They chat a bit to Taeyong’s relief and horror and then part. The dark haired boy looks between them both when he says “Maybe I’ll see you around” before making his way back down the path. 

Taemin’s whole attention shifts back to Taeyong, acting none the wiser to Taeyong’s board stiff spine or how his once reddened cheeks had flushed. Like he didn’t just technically maybe take part in a conversation with the boy ~~of Taeyong’s dreams~~. “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Oh,” right, he’d just taken Taemin on this path without a proper introduction. “Lee Taeyong.”

“Lee Taemin,” The other returns with a slight bow that slides his expensive looking sunglasses down his nose. “Thank you for your help today. Maybe we’ll see each other around?”

“M-maybe?” But why? Ah...curiosity. 

Taemin just smiles, and maybe he’s going to speak again but the pre-evening bell chimes and that means Taeyong must hurry to learn his next tasks.

“Sorry, I have to go! The path back is easy!”

Taeyong scrambles away, steps light as he pitter-patters away.  


x

  
Away from the river, when he finds himself thinking about the pretty stranger in the strange clothes, somehow, always, it’s right before Taemin shows up again.

The second time startles Taeyong just as much as the first. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks around an arm full of the day’s fresh laundry. 

“Came to…” Taemin breaks off into a hum. His hands are shoved in his pockets and his eyes look around the shrine ground. “Pray.”

“Oh, of course. Well, uh,” He turned his body so he could nod his head to the entrance. “You can go through there. Or if you’re looking for something to pay tribute, the shop is in the small hut to the left.”

“Thank you,” Taemin’s head tilts and he smiles. “Mind if I help you first? Praying can come any time.”

“No, no, it’s okay, really, I--” But half of what he’s holding is already coming out of his hands. 

“Ah, careful,” Taemin’s red glass covered eyes darts down to where Taeyong can’t see. He stretches his neck and uses his chin to squish down the blankets he’s holding and catches sight of the same wound on his hand suddenly reopened. He gives Taeyong a sympathetic look and chuckles, “Didn’t I tell you to take care of that?” 

“Y-you did,” Brown ears go flat against his head. 

“I don’t mean it like that,” Taemin maneuvers it all into one arm so that his newly free hand can run through Taeyong’s hair. He lingers on his ear, scratching gently at the base until even Taeyong’s tail goes lax. He smiles as if to say ‘much better’ then draws his hand back. “Just take care of it. You wouldn’t want to have any problems. Here...” He slips his hand into his back pocket and, like magic, withdraws a handkerchief like magic, and half wraps it around Taeyong’s still bleeding hand. 

“Th-thanks. Uhm, shall we?”

It doesn’t feel right bringing Taemin back behind the beautiful shrine, past the boiler room and towards the small building Taeyong, and the others, called home. He’s not not allowed here, but Taeyong finds it strange… though, Taemin is strange for wanting to help him in the first place. And stranger still when, after Taeyong has opened the closet door with his foot and flopped the clean linens into a basket, Taemin’s palm hits the door by Taeyong’s head and his body leans very far in. Their noses nearly touch. Taeyong swallows hard.

“Everything okay?” Is all he can think to ask. 

“Yeah,” Taemin’s voice doesn’t waiver but his eyes move all over Taeyong’s face. “Just...thinking.”

Then he says, “I want to kiss you.”

“Wh-what? Why?” 

“Why not?” 

Taeyong’s ear flicks and his eyes glance up immediately. That’s why not. Those things on his head and at his back that makes him so different from the world around him. Taemin’s hand runs over the ears in question and smiles. “So?”

Before he realizes he’s done it, Taeyong nods.

It's like fire and ice all at once, how their lips meet. 

Taeyong’s never kissed anyone before--never thought about it (except maybe most recently, at the river bank)--but Taemin is going at him as if his life would depend on it. Taeyong’s fingers latch into the front of Taemin’s jacket just to give him a fighting chance at kissing back. It’s rough and messy and overwhelming in a way that hooks Taeyong unexpectedly. He wants to hold out. He wants it to last. 

And then he breaks away with a gasp and before Taemin can lean forward to start at his next whispers, “Wait. I--” 

He what? What’s that next word? What does he want? Taemin just made him feel so right, but his thoughts feel wrong. There are voices coming from around the corner, too, feet pitter-pattering about and that sets Taeyong’s heart racing.

“I’ll go,” Taemin says easily and smiles. Taeyong’s hand catch his sleeve as he turns to leave but his words can’t follow up. Soft pleather slips through his touch, then Taemin’s far away.  


x

  
At the bank of the river, Taeyong’s crush doesn’t show up. He had sacrificed his mealtime to wait here, practicing conversation topics so that they (well, he) could speak properly. But he doesn’t show. Taeyong feels dejected, though he knows the other owes him nothing and probably doesn’t even know he exists in the first place, so what does it matter anyway and-- Oh. Rambling. Taeyong’s got to reel that in.

These days he’s fallen asleep to the memory of his first kiss and wonders what it would be like with the other man. Taeyong...he likes kissing men. He likes knowing that now. He just hates how much it hurts to be left alone in the aftermath.

He draws his knees to his chest. He’s hungry and tired and now fighting off a bout of sadness. That’s when Taemin shows up.

His hand falls on top of Taeyong’s head and over an ear before he says anything. The kitten boy purrs. How have they only meet enough times to count on his hands and yet he’s so comfortable with this stranger? He likes when Taemin pets his ears, he just doesn’t want to admit it.

“When I get rid of them, it’ll be better,” Taeyong whispers without being asked anything. He turns his head to take in Taemin. “Like you.” 

Taemin glances back and raises a brow.

“You’re perfect,” Taeyong says. “Handsome, well dressed, human,” Taemin has it all. Or, at least all the things Taeyong wants. “There are ways…” He continues, “I’ve been looking into them.”

“And that’s what you want?” 

“It...is…” Taeyong swallows hard and tells himself to try again with more confidence. “It is.” 

Taemin doesn’t speak much after that but the way his fingers traipse down Taeyong’s neck and arms is more than enough. Taeyong wants to be like him-- bold enough to speak to a stranger, to ask for his own wants, to keep coming back without a worry of what others might think. Taemin’s as bold as he’s beautiful and Taeyong thinks that if he can just channel a fraction of that maybe it’d change his whole life. Maybe it’d change it forever.

Taeyong dreams of a day where he could speak to the boy across the river, dreams of filling himself with a Taemin like energy. ~~Maybe even kiss him with the same energy~~. A cat boy and a human aren’t meant to be together, but Taemin’s ignored expectations in favor of given Taeyong confidence. Maybe he doesn’t even know that he has, but Taeyong dreams of being like him. 

Changing himself should accomplish just that.

That’s why, after a week’s worth of researching, at the bank of the river-- well, Taeyong actually isn’t going as often anymore. He sticks closer to the shrines and the forests more these days. That’s where Taemin itends to be.

Thin arms outstretch to welcome Taeyong in an easy embrace and his smiling lips ask “How are you?” 

“Good,” Taeyong beams. “Good. I think… I think I’ve found a way.”

“Oh?” Taemin quirks a brow. “You have?”

“I have an appointment in a few days. Then they’ll be gone and I can…” His voice trails, gaze glancing towards the river he has ignored these last few days. He giggles. 

Taemin runs a hand over the ears in question, fingers following through Taeyong’s hair and down his cheek. “You can go find your boy.”

“I think he’ll like to talk to me, then. Maybe… maybe even more.” All these little things like light touches and nose bumps. Taeyong especially likes the way Taemin has pressed his lips into his hair. 

The honest Taeyong he’s become thanks to Taemin’s comfortable guidance, Taeyong likes that even more.

The way Taemin caresses him is nice too.

In a blink Taemin has tugged Taeyong against his chest, just to hold him. A celebration for the next steps in Taeyong’s life. His hands rub over soft, furry ears that twitch and melt in response. At his back his tail sways until its wrapped loosely around them both.

“Maybe I’ll miss these,” Taemin teases. “Though I know you’ll look just as lovely with a human pair. And how happy it’s going to make you makes me happy too.”

Taeyong laughs to the pitter-patter beat of his heart.  


x

  
Taeyong, with his work done for the day, settles in his little corner of a back room. Drifting off into a noonday nap, he pillows his head against the crook of his arm while the darkness behind his eyelids gives way to vivid colors and false realities: He’s sitting with the stranger. The boy smiles at him, lifts his hand and caresses the back of it down Taeyong’s cheek, then lets out a laugh from the way Taeyong keens into the touch. He finds familiarity in it, just as he does when the other leans in and presses their lips together. He is no longer a total stranger to intimacy and it’s all thanks to Taemin. This confidence, eagerness, to embrace this side of himself alongside the other boy is all thanks to Taemin. Thin lips part slightly to welcome the other’s, sliding smoothly against each other when tongues join in to dance. Taeyong’s hands settle on the others chest and clutch tight to the soft fabric of a black t-shirt (it’s the only thing Taeyong’s seen him wear on hikes).

Behind him, arms slip slowly around Taeyong’s waist. The newcomer holds him loosely and nuzzles against his neck, spiking his heartbeat, stimulating the rest of him that wasn’t already alight from the kissing. Taeyong breaks off for a breath and turns to touch noses, tip to tip, with Taemin. Like always. He smiles, pecking Taeyong on the lips briefly. And Taeyong smiles back.

His crush hasn’t stopped moving, though. His hands slip into the wide collar of Taeyong’s robes and explore down his chest. Taeyong exhales slowly and his eyes slip shut. Taemin at his back slowly pulls the loosening fabric off of his shoulders and replaces it with his lips, kissing and nipping gently across smooth skin. Between both their bodies Taeyong starts to melt. He feels so warm, enough so that had he had them soft kitten ears would crease backwards. 

Oh, right! He doesn’t have those pesky things anymore. He’s succeeded-- the ears and tail are gone.

Taeyong hums out his happiness, clutches tighter, and falls apart between both bodies. Clothes are stripped from them all and Taeyong is lifted, prepped, and then placed in the space above the other two’s crossed thighs. He swallows. This is where things get new. Thanks to Taemin he’s indulged in all sorts of kisses and touches. Now this… He glances up, suddenly face to face with his newfound friend and Taemin smiles reassuringly back at him. His hand courses through Taeyong’s brown hair and though he can’t fully make out the words that are being said, Taeyong somehow still feels comforted. 

With his arms now wrapped around Taemin’s shoulders, he lowers himself onto both boys. The stretch of two cocks is much more than his virgin self is ready for, despite all the preparation they’d indulged in moments ago, but Taeyong is determined. Taemin whispers for him to breathe, so Taeyong does. Inhaling and exhaling until he’s hit both hilts and can take a few moments to adjust himself.

The tighter he clings to Taemin’s shoulders the less he realizes that his crush from the riverbank is gone. It’s only the two of them, locked up tightly in one another. Taeyong bounces in Taemin’s lap, gasps out mewls pleasure, and sinks his nails into perfect skin like his life depends on it. Sweat glistens on his skin. He jerks with the right placement of Taemin’s hips and in no time he’ll be over his edge--he already feels like he’s spiraling fast. Long fingers slip into soft blond locks, up the back of his hand and over long, soft ears. Ears? Taeyong blinks lust laden eyes open just to take in how they stretch up towards the ceiling and come at a point. 

He realizes he wants to be pet, too.

His own kitten features, back again, twitch in time with the rabbit’s, and then all at once it’s over. Taeyong wakes in time with his wet dream, gasps hard and scrambles for the edges of his sheets so he can throw them from his body and get to his feet. 

It hits him--the dream, the hard beating of his heart, the weirdness and want that’s overcome him in these last few weeks. He understands it now. 

He needs to find Taemin.  


x

  
On the other end of the heavens, Taemin sits pensively.

“Don’t you think you’re getting a little too attached?” A voice hums from behind his shoulder. Taemin startles, but he doesn’t let his actions betray his sudden shock. No. Instead he turns slowly, spinning elegantly on his heels in a flurry of jingling bells and dangling charms until he’s face to face with his master-- the one and only Kim Jonghyun. 

“What makes you think that?” Taemin feigns ignorance, tapping his finger to his chin as if searching for an answer to his own question.

Jonghyun huffs his bangs out of his face. His arms gross over his chest and though his whole posture conveys his annoyance his eyes read nothing but concern. “Taemin.”

“What?” He tries to smile. 

“A human?”

“A hybrid,” as if that’s much better. 

“You’re a _God,_ Taemin.”

“Of what,” The blond snips back, demanding rather than questioning. He wants Jonghyun to piece it all together for them both. “What am I the God of.”

“Forbidden-- Ugh,” Jonghyun rolls his eyes and runs his hands through his hair. “That doesn’t mean you engage in it.”

A smirk starts to play on Taemin’s lips but he is quickly distracted. A familiar pitter-patter making its way towards Taemin’s shrine pulls him like a breath of air. Taemin peers through his mirror, red sunglasses sliding ever so slowly down his nose in time for brown hair and matching ears to come into view. 

Taeyong takes to his knees, palms pressed before him to the gold plated, rabbit eared idol sitting in the center of their shrine. He can’t think of anywhere else to go; anywhere else he can ask for the man who swept his heart away. To see and feel him once more. Taeyong doesn’t want to rid himself of his cat-ness. He just wants a rabbit to hold him again. 

He doesn’t even startle when the air around him cools and a rustling of bells tips him off to his wishes come true.

And Taemin gives Jonghyun a look that’s no longer guarded. He’s tossed away the acts, the justification, the thought that he needed to protect himself from his own heart’s wishes. “You made me this, the God of Forbidden Love,” he says and smiles, tugging his kitten closer. “What’s more forbidden than this?”

Then he leans in and captures Taeyong’s lips in a kiss.


End file.
